


As I Join My Life To Yours

by zeta_leonis



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, No structure, Nobody asked for this but I'm writing it anyway, Softcore Porn, Winmin - Freeform, blonde babes in love, wedding au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 19:25:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8069758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeta_leonis/pseuds/zeta_leonis
Summary: Armin is one hundred percent sure he will love this man wholly, and Erwin will do the same, loving each other until their sun sets.--a.k.a the winmin marriage fic nobody asked for.





	

They get married on a cold, crisp winter morning, sometime in December. The air cuts at their skin like blades, the snow deposits itself on their eyelashes and on the tip of their noses. The cold wind settles inside them, slashing through their ribs and into their chest.

They ignore it.

Few times a year did they ever get such a happy festivity, much less in this time of year. It's good for everyone.

Armin wakes up excited, nervousness blending in with joy to create a warm, fuzzy feeling that settles in his stomach. He swings his legs over the side of the bed in the barracks, the last night he'd sleep there. He leaves it somewhat nostalgically. Memories flash by - waking up late and having Eren pour cold water on him, bringing an oil lamp and reading under the covers, the smell of sweat after an expedition and the relieved feeling of lying in bed after a long day, feeling the pain course through his muscles and joints.

He makes his bed, more out of habit than anything else, because no one today is going to tell him off for not doing it. He does it anyway. He's organised - he brushes his teeth and showers and folds his pajamas neatly, leaving them under the pillow. They'll be moved to his new room tonight, but old habits die hard. When Eren wakes up, he shouts about everything excitedly, seemingly more excited about this than Armin. He's not. It's impossible. Mikasa sends everyone away, making them dress up and then go give the finishing touches to everything - the decoration in the old castle, the cake (baked by Jean. He wouldn't let Sasha do it), the choir...

Sasha spends all morning fussing over him, over his hair and his tie and his suit and how his suit is _slightly tight on his shoulders_ \- but it doesn't really faze him. He likes it, even if it isn't his. He feels right in it, the only suit he's ever worn, and yet the most important clothes he's ever put on. It is his wedding day, after all. He looks at himself in the mirror once, twice, turning around and staring at himself.

He knows Erwin is there already, waiting, worrying, as he does.

"You look amazing." Sasha insists, beaming at him. "He won't be able to resist you."

She's pulled his hair into a low ponytail, leaving his bangs loose in the front. He hopes she's right, even if he knows he doesn't need to make Erwin anymore attracted to him than he already is. His confessions of love have always been good enough, they always will be. Even so, he worries, he's slightly scared that he might not be there, that he might not want to go through with this, maybe this has all been a mistake -

"Armin," Sasha's voice pulls him out of his thoughts. "Don't tell me you're having cold feet."

"Maybe," Armin says, solemn, far too solemn for his wedding day. "I don't know. What if he's not there?"

Sasha smiles, and pets Armin's head just enough so it doesn't get messed up. It's one of her easy smiles, the kind that puts anyone at ease. "I don't know many things about the Commander, but I know one thing: he's utterly in love with you. You can tell. It's pretty much palpable when you look at each other. Just relax, smile! It's your wedding, remember?"

"...Yeah, you're right." Armin smiles slowly, hitting his cheeks, making them flush red. "It's my wedding, everything will turn out okay."

"Now come on," Sasha takes his wrist. "There's a carriage waiting outside."

Armin lets himself be led forward, every step feeling simultaneously heavier and lighter, he both felt as if he were dragging his feet and as if there were a spring in his step. His mind is spinning, buzzing, his eyes are almost out of focus, he lets himself be pulled forwards and tries calming his nerves, stills his breath, tries to get his pulse down.

It isn't working.

Sasha gets into the driver's' seat, alongside Connie, who congratulates Armin and smiles brightly.

Armin sits in the carriage, feeling it bump and jump and jolt as the irregular, uneven path rolled beneath the wheels. The snow had been cleared just for them, but the sides of the path are still covered in it, so deep it reaches Armin's mid-calf. The trees are blanketed with snow too, the branches holding some of it. Armin jumps and jolts with the carriage, but he barely feels it. Something is gnawing at his stomach from the inside, scratching and tearing at it, the fuzzy feeling from this morning bubbling and rising in his throat, making breathing almost impossible.

Armin tries relaxing, but to no avail - as soon as he remembers he's getting married, everything starts all over again.

He can see out of the window that the old headquarters are nearing, the castle growing bigger as they get closer. Flowers hang from every window, and plain white banners of cloth swing from the windows. The carriage jumps once more, and Armin does feel that one, groaning. He closes his eyes and wills himself to relax, steeling himself as he breathes slowly.

_Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…_

The carriage slows down, and it stops. Armin is on the border of a panic attack.

“Armin? We’re here.”

Connie opens the door, and Armin closes his eyes before opening them slowly, stepping out and trying not to pull his hair. Sasha fusses about his suit _again,_ and then sees him goodbye and leaves him with Mikasa as she runs with Connie into the castle, muttering something about being late and ‘Corporal Levi is going to kill us…!’.

“Are you ready?” Mikasa asks him, taking his arm in hers. She’ll be the one walking him down the aisle, as Eren is his best man, and he’s waiting inside.

Armin swallows thickly. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good.” she smiles, and then turns to the front door. Armin feels the sweat forming in his hands and dripping down his neck, and he really doesn’t want to ruin this suit. He had to beg Eren to beg Levi to lend it to him, since he didn’t have one and Levi was the closest person to his size. The Corporal lent it to him somewhat begrudgingly. Eren had to clean the toilets at headquarters for a week. He wasn’t pleased.

As soon as the door opens and they step in, Armin feels like he’s having a heart attack. He feels faint, and even though the choir boys are singing, he can only hear his heart beating wildly against his ribs, like a bird trapped in a cage.

He tries focusing on the tune as they walk slowly down the aisle. It’s a sweet song, slow, the kid’s voices at a high pitch.

All the members of the Survey Corps are there, standing, their hands forming fists over their heart and on their lower back. Armin looks around, at the banners and ribbons hanging from the top of the ceiling and wrapping around the columns at either side of the main floor. He looks at the windows, how the light filters through them and casts bright yellow shadows on the floor. He looks at the vicar with his book open, at Eren standing next to the stairs that lead up to the altar, smiling at him.

His eyes fall on his fiancée.

Erwin is smiling at him too, the kind of smile he reveals to few people very few times, the kind of smile that lights up the room and the countryside and the whole damn world (in Armin’s opinion). His hair looks the same as always, combed neatly so not one hair is out of place. The slight five o'clock shadow he’s been sporting these last few weeks is gone, so he looks clean shaven, fresh. His eyes are crinkled at the sides, and his eyes don’t hold their typical cold, determined look. He looks the happiest he’s been in a long time, and it makes everyone else happy. Even Levi, who stands beside him as his best man is slightly smiling, the corners of his mouth lifting the very tiniest bit. It’s enough for everyone, especially Hanji, who will tease him about it for years whenever Levi says he doesn’t smile.

Mikasa lets go of him and takes her seat beside Eren as everyone sits down once he reaches the altar. He feels fidgety, he doesn’t know what to do with his hands, or where to look, or how to do anything.

He lifts his gaze from the floor when the vicar tells him to place his hands atop Erwin’s. He struggles to breathe.

“You look amazing,” Erwin whispers, beaming down at him. Armin smiles in response.

As the vicar drones on, he thinks about his parents and about his grandfather. He wonders what they’d say if they saw their son, at eighteen, marrying the Commander of the Survey Corps. He shudders slightly.

He knows Erwin’s parents are also dead, and he knows he would’ve liked them to come, if they could.

“Now, the couple will recite their vows.”

Right, their vows. The ones he knows by heart. The ones he practised and re-read over and over so much that Jean threw a pillow at him one night. The ones he can say backwards.

Erwin starts.

_“I take you to be my partner for life,_

_I promise above all else to live in truth with you_

_And to communicate fully and fearlessly,_

_I give you my hand and my heart_

_As a sanctuary of warmth and peace_

_And pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor_ _  
_

_As I join my life to yours.”_

Armin’s heart flutters as he hears Erwin recite them, recite these words they came up with together on a Sunday afternoon when the sky was purple and orange and they laid on Erwin’s bed, just waiting until sunset, when Armin would have to go back to the barracks.

He feels tears prickling at his eyes, but he doesn’t act upon them. He doesn’t want to move his hands from Erwin’s, doesn’t want the warmth to leave them.

He exhales deeply and repeats the vows.

_“I take you to be my partner for life,_

_I promise above all else to live in truth with you_

_And to communicate fully and fearlessly,_

_I give you my hand and my heart_

_As a sanctuary of warmth and peace_

_And pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor_

_As I join my life to yours.”_

Erwin’s fingers tickle the underside of his palm. He laughs breathily, quietly, so nobody but them can hear.

The ring bearer is suddenly next to them, and Armin stares down at the rings, the silver bands sitting on the red velvet.

They couldn’t afford gold, or platinum, or anything with diamonds or jewels on them, so they decided on silver. It was more ‘them’ anyway. Two simple, silver bands, filled with so much meaning they’re priceless.

Erwin slips the ring on Armin’s finger easily, in one smooth move. Armin’s hands shake so much he fears he’ll drop the ring. He doesn’t.

He sees Erwin mouth something to him. ‘Relax.’

Armin tries, sighing in relief when he finally puts the ring on and _why are his fingers so damn big and why am I sweating so much and why is he perfect and -_

“Do you, Armin Artlert, take Erwin Smith to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?” The vicar says, and the fuzzy feeling keeps rising in Armin’s throat, wraps around his vocal chords until he feels like he’s choking. The tears flow freely now. He doesn’t realise he’s smiling until he speaks the two most important words he’s ever spoken.

“I do.”

“And do you, Erwin Smith, take Armin Artlert  to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

The two most important words Armin’s ever heard. “I do.”

And finally, finally, it’s ending and the bubbles seem to be rising up into Armin’s mouth.

“You may kiss the groom.”

Erwin doesn’t even bother with formality, or decency, he just bends Armin over and kisses him hard, Armin’s arms wrapping around his neck. Everybody is up, cheering, clapping and whistling, but neither of them can hear it. All they can hear is the sound of each other’s breaths, and the “I love you,” Erwin whispers into Armin’s ear as he wipes his tears with his thumbs.

  
  


“We literally _just_ got married and you want us to go to seperate rooms?” Erwin asks Hanji, gripping tight onto Armin’s hand.

“It’s just for a few hours! You’ll see each other again at dinner, and then tonight…” she accentuates this with a smirk and a suggestive look.

Armin does _not_ blush. (He does.)

“I’ll see you again tonight, love.” Erwin mumbles, pressing his lips to Armin’s once more in a futile way before Levi and Hanji literally drag him away. Eren pulls Armin along with him up stairs and through corridors until they reach a room.

When Eren swings the door open, Mikasa, Jean, Ymir, Krista, and every other person that was with him in the 104th Training Corps is there, waiting for him.

“Congratulations!” they all exclaim in unison, standing up to hug Armin and pat him on the back.

“Thanks guys.” Armin mumbles, sitting on the bed.

“So,” Sasha starts, “what does being married feel like?”

“Same as normal? I mean, I’ve literally been married for half an hour, I wouldn’t really know.” Armin replies, blushing. He’s married. The full weight of the concept doesn’t seem to strike him yet.

Everyone’s sitting around him, as if they were kids playing ‘Spin the Bottle’ . He’s taken off his suit jacket, and it rests on the back of a chair neatly.

“You’re so lucky,” Jean sighs, resting his elbow on his knee and nestling his chin in his open palm. “you don’t have to sleep in a bunk-bed anymore. You get to sleep in the Commander’s room.” he wiggles his eyebrows, and Armin swears he’ll kill anyone who makes anymore sex jokes.

“Guys, lay off. Armin’s very tired, and he needs to rest for tonight.”

God bless Mikasa.

She winks at him when nobody’s watching.

Armin groans and shoves his face in his pillow as everyone leaves the room.

 

\--

 

He doesn’t need Mikasa to walk him to dinner. When he walks in, everyone falls silent and stands, saluting him. He salutes back. Everybody sits down.

The room where the ceremony took place has been rearranged. Instead of chairs forming a corridor and an altar, in the center of the room sits a very long table and dozens of chairs around it. The room is a mix of brown leather jackets with the wings of liberty on them, along with the white banners and the soft yellow light coming from the candles on the walls and table.

“You look wonderful.” Erwin says as Armin sits between him and Eren in the centre of the table.

“I look the same as this morning.” Armin mumbles, looking down at his plate.

“You always look wonderful.”

“Shut up.”

Erwin laughs, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Armin’s head.

Eren, who’s been nervously jittering for the past five minutes, stands up, holding his wine glass in one hand.

“Before dinner commences, I propose a toast to the newlyweds.” he looks at Armin and smiles, tears gathering in his eyes for the second time that day. “May your union be forever prosperous, and may you continue to grow together as one.” Eren raises his glass, along with everyone else sitting at the table.

“To the grooms!”

The dinner is a combination of both Jean and Sasha’s cooking talents. Jean insists he makes the cake because he apparently is better at baking.

They laugh over dinner, and relish in the savoury, rich taste of meat and the sweet taste of wine.

Levi, sitting beside Erwin, stands up as dinner ended. Everyone falls silent and the short man grimaces at the screeching sound of the chair sliding against the stone floor.

“As Erwin’s best man, I believe I must make a speech.” Levi sighs before continuing. “I have known Erwin for a long time, and he has become more than my Commander. He is my, my -” he struggles with getting the words out. “- friend. And as we formed a -” gulp. “- friendship, I have learned many things about him. I will not say them, for it is inappropriate to discuss here, and I would rather you learned them little by little, Artlert. I will tell you one thing, though - he is the most stubborn man I know. He is not only stubborn - he is insufferable, annoying, overbearing and a pain.” Erwin looks ready to kill Levi and throw his remains down the well outside the castle. Armin puts a hand over his and helps him relax, laughing along with everyone else. “But - he is also the most trusting, the kindest, and the most loyal person I know. He is protective, and calming. He will do anything to defend you, and will love you truly, openly, with everything he has. You’ll never find anyone like him.”

A quiet ‘Awww’ spreads around the table, and Levi glares harshly.

“So, Armin Artlert: good luck, and congratulations. I wish you the best.”

The room breaks into cheers and clapping, and Armin smiles brightly. Erwin stands up and hugs Levi, overwhelmed, and Levi hugs him back and pats his back awkwardly before trying to get away.

Erwin then takes Armin’s hand and they stand up, going over to where the cake has been wheeled in. It’s three stories, covered in chocolate and whipped cream decoration, and though it isn’t very fancy, to them, it’s perfect. They cut it together, and though Erwin gets it right, Armin miscalculates Erwin’s height and ends up crushing the cake to his cheek and nose, smearing his face with chocolate. Instead of cleaning it off, he laughs and rubs his face on Armin’s, making the blonde boy recoil and slap him jokingly on the chest.

Then, it’s time for their first dance. Some members of the Survey Corps can play instruments, so they take out their violins and flutes and play an improvised melody in unison.

Armin lets Erwin take the lead, wrapping his arms around his neck as he stands on his tiptoes, and Erwin wraps his arms around Armin’s waist as they sway and move slowly.

“You’re a horrible dancer.” the taller whispers, teasingly.

Armin gets flustered. “I’ve never danced like this before.”

Armin thinks about all they’ve done together in these past two years, how much they’ve changed and developed and grown together. Erwin has been most of Armin’s firsts, if not all. At least the important ones.

“You just stepped on my foot.” Erwin says, pulling Armin out of his thoughts.

“Sorry.” he apologises, flashing him a smile.

He looks up at Erwin’s eyes and realises he never wants to leave them, never wants to be parted from these oceans that they contain, from the universe they hold. He’s so in love he can’t be helped, fallen so hard he can’t get up, he’s been left breathless.

As the music ends, he pulls Erwin down for another kiss, a slow one, one in which he tries conveying everything he’s feeling. He can’t of course, because words are not enough, this kiss is not enough, nothing will ever be enough to tell this man _how much he loves him._

After that, there’s more partying - most people divided into two sides - those who choose to sit and drink and talk, and those who choose to dance. Sasha, Connie and Hanji dominate the dance floor, dancing and running on a seemingly never ending energy. Eren manages to convince Levi to dance, and though at first they seem to fumble about, they begin getting into it, and Armin is sure of two things: those two are hooking up some time soon, and Hanji is _so_ going to tease Levi about tonight.

Ymir and Krista also start dancing at some point, but then they go sit down after a while, Krista running her finger over the top of her wine glass and Ymir putting the hair that has fallen from her ponytail behind her ear.

Mikasa converses with Jean calmly. Since Armin can’t have the first dance with his father, he has it with Eren, always keeping their distance slightly as Erwin watches them with a vigilant eye. Eren won’t admit it, but he feels somewhat intimidated by the Commander’s gaze.

_The night is coming to an end,_ Armin realises, _and that means the beginning of a new life._

The night _is_ coming to an end, and people already start leaving, the castle becoming emptier and emptier. The musicians end up leaving too. The castle grows quiet.

 

\--

 

Eventually, only Levi, Eren and Mikasa are left as everyone has said their goodbyes and congratulations.

Eren hugs Armin and cries _again,_ making the blonde smile fondly. He and Mikasa hug him simultaneously, all three of them feeling both older and a lot younger, hugging like they haven’t done since they were kids.

“Congratulations, Armin.” Eren sniffles. “I hope you’re happy.”

“Thanks.”

Mikasa congratulates him with a silent squeeze to his shoulder and _another suggestive wink -_

They turn to leave.

Levi steps in front of him, and Armin salutes.

“Congrats, kid.” Levi says, the most meaningful words he thinks his superior has ever said to him directly.

“Th - thank you, Corporal!” he stutters, and he thinks he can hear Levi snort as he leaves, closing the door behind him.

“Phew,” Armin sighs. “That was tiring. I haven’t danced so much in my life.”

“We’ve got something even more tiring to do now.” Erwin smirks, and then, without warning, picks Armin up and carries him ‘bridal style’ - pun not intended - up the stairs. They have the whole castle to themselves, so Armin cries out and squeals and laughs as Erwin takes them to their room.

It’s what used to be his room before they changed headquarters. It’s huge. A four poster bed is in the middle, the curtains on the sides drawn. A large terrace is on one side, and the bathroom on the other. Tall, stone ceilings and columns in the walls tower over them, and the wooden floor makes Erwin’s shoes resonate as he steps in. He shuts the door behind himself, and then puts Armin down.

With a last laugh, Erwin bends down to kiss Armin. It starts out slow and sweet, smiling slightly as they kiss, as they press their lips together in this familiar motion they’ve done so many times before, it feels _right,_ their faces slotting together perfectly.

It’s slow, and passionate, and everything it needs to be. Armin blushes constantly beneath Erwin, and Erwin smiles kindly down at his lover, taking it easy, taking it slow.

But that’s the beauty of tonight, really. They don’t need to _do_ anything, they don’t need to _prove_ anything, they just need to be with each other, love each other fully like they will do for the rest of their lives.

Erwin thrusts slowly, languidly into Armin, hearing his breathy gasps and moans of his name, the quiet, high pitched sounds between thrust and thrust. Armin grips Erwin’s shoulders, wraps his arms around his neck and pulls him down so their faces are impossibly close. Armin can’t tear his eyes away from Erwin’s, the twin gems of sapphire glowing with a different blue each time. His eyes are a mystery, a world Armin needs to discover. Armin’s never really liked his own eyes - he’s always much preferred Eren’s teal eyes, Mikasa’s grey ones, Jean’s golden ones, Marco’s onyx brown ones. He’s never liked his plain, blue eyes.

Now, blue is his favourite colour.

Erwin leans down to whisper something into Armin’s mouth.

_“I take you to be my partner for life,”_

“What?” Armin laughs lightly, wrapping his legs tighter around Erwin’s waist.

“Continue,” Erwin laughs back, pressing a light kiss to Armin’s forehead. _  
_

_“I promise above all else to live in truth with you,”_

A kiss to Armin’s cheek, an angled thrust, a drawn out moan. _  
_

_“And to communicate fully and fearlessly,”_

Erwin’s voice is low and reverent as he speaks, but it holds joy, happiness unlike any either of them have ever experienced. _  
_

_“I give you my hand and my heart,”_

Armin is whispering shakily, closing his eyes and joining their foreheads, whimpering his husband’s name over and over like a prayer. _  
_

_“As a sanctuary of warmth and peace,”_

Erwin doesn’t move faster, doesn’t give in, just trying to draw it out, whispering ‘I love you’s into the closed space between them. _  
_

_“And pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor,”_

Armin presses soft kisses to Erwin’s head; his cheek, his neck, his shoulder, his arm, writing ‘I love you’s into his skin with the swirls of his breath. _  
_

_“_ _As I join my life to yours.”_

Erwin buries his head in Armin’s shoulder, and Armin does the same as their orgasm rolls over them. It’s not a crashing wave, or a thunderbolt, or a car crash, or anything that can be defined with a ‘sudden intensity’. No, it’s slow, like heat rolling down desert dunes after the build-up of a hot day, like a wave that gently falls onto the sand and breaks quietly, dragging the sand back with it only to put it back later, like the last leaf falling off a tree in autumn. It’s got the intensity of the burning of a thousand suns, of the brightest flame, but it doesn’t suddenly rain down on them - they’re expecting it, and they ride it out, panting into each other’s ears and whimpering and groaning.

“I love you.” Armin says. Erwin’s eyes widen.

Armin rarely says it, since he feels it can’t convey everything he feels, it doesn’t cover all the words he needs to describe what he feels for his commander.

“I love you too.” Erwin replies, and pulls him into his body, covering him, pressing their bodies together under the sheets.

  
  


Armin wakes up late in the night. It’s not morning yet, but it’s the next day - Armin knows this, his biological clock already trained for it. He’s too lazy to look for clean underwear, so he walks to the large closet and pulls a white sheet over himself, draping it over his shoulders and pulling it so it covers most of him.

It’s cold outside, and he only realises this after he’s stepped out onto the balcony and gripped onto the rail.

He closes his eyes, and does what he does best - think.

He thinks about them, how he never believed in his wildest dreams that he would ever end up here, beside this man as his partner for life. Forever is a long time, and life is short when you’re in the military, especially in the Survey Corps. His thoughts drift to every moment he’s spent with Erwin, to every little detail that made him fall in love. Every single second spent with him has never gone to waste, every single touch they’ve shared is imprinted on Armin’s skin in a way he can’t describe.

Armin then thinks to why Erwin fell for him. He honestly can’t say. He doesn’t find any part of him charming, or cute, or beautiful, or witty, or funny. But maybe - maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s because Armin’s the only one that’s cared for this long. Maybe it’s because Armin’s the only one that knows that as soon as the sun sets and everyone’s asleep, Erwin doesn’t rest. He trains, and beats himself up. He punches wooden slabs and wields the twin blades over and over until his knuckles are white. He rides long into the night and runs laps for hours on end. And when he’s too tired to continue, Armin guides him to bed, lets him rest as he slips to the barracks.

Not anymore. Now, Armin will be able to pull him into bed with him, he’ll be able to kiss the new bruises and heal him both physically and emotionally, the barrier between Commander and Cadet now broken in some ways, but not in all. Armin won’t get special promotions, he will still have to call him ‘Commander’ in expeditions and in most public situations, and Erwin must still treat him like a Cadet.

But when attending meetings in Wall Sina, Armin attends as Erwin’s spouse. He sleeps in his room, in his bed - now theirs.

It is a joy few in the Survey Corps have, and one Armin treasures dearly.

He can hear him before he sees him, or feels him. He isn’t surprised when two strong arms embrace him, and a voice that’s low and sweet whispers in his ear.

“What are you doing up, Armin? It’s early.”

Armin smiles. “Thinking. Observing the views.”

“It’s far too early for that,” Erwin smiles against the skin on his neck.

“Is it?” Armin mumbles, resting his head on Erwin’s shoulder.

“Come back to bed with me.” Erwin beckons, and Armin gives in. He turns his head to kiss his husband as they stumble back into the room, mapping each other with their fingertips, committing this moment to memory. Armin traces the scars on Erwin’s chest, the large ones on his pectoral, the deeper gashes on his abdominals, the smaller ones along his hips, the almost invisible ones on his jaw and cheek. They each stem from different events - battles, training, accidents, expeditions, fights - but they each contain a different story. Much like Armin’s own scars. He has less, and in less visible places: on his back, on the underside of his knee, on his forearm. Armin too, has been beaten bloody, bruised to no end. He has fallen off his horse countless times, cut his hands with his swords, fallen because he made mistakes with the 3DMG. And Erwin knows. Erwin is proud of him, his brave soldier.

In the Commander’s eyes, Armin is humanity’s last hope. Something deep inside him knows that it’s not Eren, it’s not Levi, but _Armin_ who will fight the fight and win the war.

Spent, in the aftermath of lovemaking, they gaze at each other lovingly.

They have to wake up early today, because they have a carriage waiting to take them to their honeymoon destination - it isn’t much, it’s a one week holiday to a cabin in the woods Erwin’s family owned. But they don’t care right now. They’ll stay awake until sunrise, unspeaking, adoring each other in a perfect, quiet, comfortable silence.  

As Armin runs a hand over Erwin’s scarred cheeks and stares into his infinitely blue eyes, he revels in his luck, in his fortune.

Armin is one hundred percent sure he will love this man wholly, and Erwin will do the same, loving each other until their sun sets.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated <3


End file.
